I usually have low expectations for Chinese hotels as they are usually very cheap. But when I start paying higher prices, well I pexpect more.

I reserved on a Western hotel reservation site since I was travelling during Chinese New Year. Hardly any English was spoken at the front desk which isn't a problem for me as I speak enough Chinese to travel. They accepted my reservation voucher and proceeded to charge me a rate lower than quoted, RMB 352. I guess I won't complain about that. They do accept Western issued credit cards which some Chinese hotels do not. The front desk was quite helpful even with their limited English.

It was unusually cold this year which meant that the lack of heating was a real problem. There is a bath tub and a shower and they had very hot water for that. At least they had two extra blankets per room. The hot water on the water cooler did not work. I was able to get the free internet in the room working but on my second day, the connections became so slow as to make any online time a waste of my time. There were terminals in the lobby for free internet use.

I somehow had the mistaken notion that this hotel was located in Gongbei, the district immediately north of the Macau border. Bihai is actually located in Xiangzhou which is a RMB 20 cab ride away to the north. But at least it is only two blocks away from the center of Xiangzhou where there is everything you would need including eating options.

I think this price is a little expensive for what you get, a rather standard looking Chinese hotel room comparable to a Home Inn for example. But perhaps prices are higher than average in Zhuhai.

Date: October 12, 2008

Reviewer: A TripAdvisor Member, Christchurch New Zealand

I have just returned from a 4 day stay in the Zhuhai Bihai Hotel.
The reservation was made through booking.com and after the confirmation from booking.com I was pleasantly surprised to receive shortly afterwards a separate welcome email from the Hotel's Reservation manager which confirmed the stay and price. This email gave precise directions of how to get to the hotel by taxi and the fare. It attached a slip to be given to the taxi which had the address of the hotel in Chinese as well as in English. The hotel also gave a map showing how one can take a bus to the hotel. This thoughtfulness was appreciated, and in addition to these things the Manager gave her personal mobile phone number. With this in place it is unlikely that there would be any reservation misunderstandings as reported by the other reviewer.

The hotel is very clean, large rooms with spotless bathroom, a bottled water dispenser which gave out hot as well as cold water, TV with more than 30 Chinese Channels and 2 English Channels, fridge, free slippers, toothpaste and toothbrush, comb, shampoo and foam bath gel, hair dryer, combination lock safe, free tea bags, free newspaper. Very good central airconditioning and quiet room.

Security was excellent with full time uniformed guards at the entrance, and CCTV on every floor. Reception was open 24 hours, they are very helpful, changed money for me, gave directions to eating place, banks, ATM, even phoned for information if they did not have it. English was not spoken fluently by all but they would phone through and you could get to speak to an excellent English speaking staff.

They do not have a Western dining hall due to the many eating places within a few minutes walk from the hotel, there was an excellent Chinese Dim Sum place next door to the hotel. For entertainment there are various places nearby.

The hotel faces a beautiful beach and has a lovely garden to relax in, near a Supermarket and shops. This may not be ideal for Western clients expecting 5* facilities but Bihai gives the best value stay in Jhuhai.

There are two free computers on the 2nd floor for guests use, one is a modern unit which is very fast but many sites are blocked by the Chinese authorities. Computers can be rented in rooms for RMB 40/day.

Overall this stay was trouble free, pleasant, comfortable for a very good price.

**Advisory for the Bihai Hotel** I am a touring journalist for Travelers Digest. In June 2007 myself and a staff member had the misfortune of spending 2 days in this terrible hotel. It actually took 2 hours for their totally untrained female staff to just check us in even through we had made a reservation. In addition they literally refused to honor our booked daily price and were rude and constantly sneered as if they actually despised us as foreigners, as I heard the name American several times. The air-conditioner in our room was fowl and made us sick...their internet was extremely slow, if it worked at all...they had no English TV channels, served no breakfast and provided no maid service, as the room had no toilet paper and clean towels for an entire day. On our 2nd day while explaining our grievances we were accosted by their boisterous assistant manager and after a heated exchange we checked out. In our 25 years of global travel this was by far one of the worst hotels we had ever stayed and highly advise people to "STAY AWAY."